• COVID-19: 297 new cases, five deaths (media)
• Abdixhiku: Changes in LDK have started and nothing will stop them (media)
• AAK responds to Trajkovic’s vote abuse claims, “a pure lie” (Indeksonline)
• CDHRF: Opposition to vote for Kurti 2 and Osmani as President (media)
• Kosovars take to streets to mark state’s 13^th birthday (BIRN)
• The sacrifice for the state that did not deliver justice (Koha)
• Qerkini: Serbia is playing with fate of missing persons (media)
• Where does the fight against corruption begin? (Radio Free Europe)
• Special Court: There is no leak of information (Klan Kosova)
• Bus with Kosovo tourists pelted with stones in Montenegro (media)

COVID-19: 297 new cases, five deaths (media)

Kosovo has recorded 297 new cases of COVID-19 and five deaths in the last 24 hours. 311 persons have recovered from the virus during this time.

Abdixhiku: Changes in LDK have started and nothing will stop them (media)

Democratic League of Kosovo (LDK) senior member Lumir Abdixhiku said on Wednesday that changes in this party have started and that nothing will stop them. Following the worst results of the party in the recent February parliamentary elections, Abdixhiku said “the results for the team, for the LDK, were very heavy – the worst in history. The message was clear, and it calls for reflection. Who don’t listen to the message, will be forgotten, and there can be no alternatives here.”

AAK responds to Trajkovic’s vote abuse claims, “a pure lie” (Indeksonline)

The Haradinaj-led Alliance for the Future of Kosovo (AAK) reacted on Tuesday after Rada Trajkovic claimed that the AAK and the Serbian List cooperated to elect MPs which they will later pressure to elect the new President of Kosovo. The AAK said in a statement that Trajkovic’s claims are a pure lie. The AAK also said that it will never have a blocking stance during the formation of the new institutions after the February 14 parliamentary elections.

CDHRF: Opposition to vote for Kurti 2 and Osmani as President (media)

The Prishtina-based Council for the Defense of Human Rights and Freedoms (CDHRF) said in a statement on Wednesday that the opposition should unanimously vote in favor of a Kurti 2 government and for Vjosa Osmani as the new President of Kosovo. The Council said the opposition should be constructive and fully cooperative in the formation of the new institutions.

“In democracy, the voter determines the rules of the political game and the elected representatives must know how to implement them. In this case, there has been a clear decision about the decision-making and responsibility address, therefore any effort to undermine the process would violate the will of the majority,” the statement notes.

Kosovars take to streets to mark state’s 13th birthday (BIRN)

Thousands of people were out in streets and squares on Thursday celebrating the 13th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence – as leaders marked the day with acts of homage and other ceremonies.

Marking the 13th anniversary of Kosovo’s proclamation of independence, at a ceremony organised at the compound of the Kosovo Security Force KSF, the country’s Acting President, Vjosa Osmani, recalled the past struggle for independence and the future goal of “integration into the community of European nations”.

“The blue flags that have decorated our cities make us proud of our state. The path we followed before reaching the independence was not easy and short,” Osmani said, referencing the national flag’s background colour.

Caretaker Prime Minister Avdullah Hoti for his part recalled Kosovo’s independence as “the biggest project [of the Albanian nation] since the declaration of Albania’s independence” – in 1912.

“Days like this bring to our attention the highest values of patriotism. On days like this we draw strength and commit ourselves to the debt we owe our children,” Hoti added.

While Kosovo had reached its “teenage” years as a state, they continued, many challenges lie ahead.

The mainly ethnic Albanian former province of Serbia declared its independence on February 17, 2008.

However, its statehood remains contested by Serbia and its allies. Two of the five members of the United Nations Security Council, China and Russia, and many other countries, have not recognised Kosovo. Five European Union member states – Greece, Cyprus, Spain, Romania and Slovakia – have also withheld recognition. The country has yet to join the UN.

According to the Kosovo Foreign Ministry website, 117 UN member states have recognised Kosovo’s independence, but the exact number is also disputed; Serbia claims it has persuaded more than 10 states to revoke recognition.

A monument in the capital, Pristina, the “Newborn”, was unveiled on the day Kosovo declared independence and immediately became the symbol of that event.

This year, it has been painted in army uniform colours, and many people have been painting their handprints on it.

The West is pushing for a solution to the dispute over statehood involving mutual normalisation of relations with Serbia.

The internationally led dialogue has seen highs and lows since it was launched at both technical and political levels in 2011.

In a congratulatory statement on Wednesday, the new US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, applauded efforts to establish normalized relations with Serbia and called for compromise.

“Reaching a comprehensive agreement centered on mutual recognition will require all sides to demonstrate flexibility and a willingness to compromise,” Blinken said in the message.

The sacrifice for the state that did not deliver justice (Koha)

The paper reports on its front page that in addition to failing to document war crimes committed in the war period, the state of Kosovo failed to investigate, put to trial and punish the criminals that killed over 13,000 people. The paper notes that war crimes trials were once in the competencies of the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), and then later EULEX, but that even when Kosovo assumed full competencies, the proper importance was not given to these trials. “In over 23 years, over 99 percent of the victims still await justice. Even now, with the celebration of the 13th anniversary of Kosovo’s independence, the state of Kosovo did not pay back the debt to those that made their sacrifices. State institutions never prioritised the issue. In fact, they continue to keep limited institutional capacities to document, investigate, try and convict these crimes,” the paper notes.

Qerkini: Serbia is playing with fate of missing persons (media)

Bajram Qerkini, a representative of the Association of Families of Missing Persons from Kosovo, said in an interview with Ekonomia Online on Wednesday that he is pessimistic about any new developments to resolve the fate of missing persons, “because Serbia is playing games with the issue”. Qerkini also slammed political parties in Kosovo for failing to do enough in the process. He also criticised internationals for failing to present satellite images of grave sites in Serbia. “They [Kosovo representatives] need to be adamant before the world and tell internationals to give us the satellite images. I don’t know if NATO or Quint have the satellite images, but they do have them,” he added.

Where does the fight against corruption begin? (Radio Free Europe)

The news website quotes leaders of the Kosovo Law Institute and Cohu non-governmental organisation as saying that the first actions of the new government of Kosovo should include depoliticisation of public boards, implementing the existing laws and adopting new laws for the fight against corruption.

The Kurti-led Vetevendosje Movement, which won the biggest support of the people in the February 14 parliamentary elections, is focused on justice, the fight against corruption and organised crime. The party believes in an independent and impartial judiciary and that in order to achieve this there must be a vetting process in the highest levels of the judiciary.

Ehat Miftaraj, director of the Kosovo Law Institute of Justice, told the news website on Wednesday that the fight against organised crime and corruption is a complicated process that requires the will, commitment and implementation of the law in a fair and equal way through a large number of mechanisms. that exist today in Kosovo.

Miftaraj also said that Kurti’s new government should respect the criteria and procedures for the appointment of independent boards and agencies and not allow people with ties to politics to become part of these mechanisms. “And last but not least, the new government must be clean, with professional ministers who don’t have corruption charges, including distancing itself from MPs who might be accused of corruption,” he said.

Special Court: There is no leak of information (Klan Kosova)

The news website reports that parts from Kosovo Specialist Chambers President Ekaterina Trendafilova meeting with ambassadors of EU member states on February 11 in The Hague were published in some European media highlighting her remarks about serious efforts to dislocate the Specialist Chambers in Pristina.

“During a briefing with the EU heads of missions on the status of the public procedures, which president Trendafilova holds every two years, she has summarised the issues which have already addressed publicly. This is a routine practice of the courts located in The Hague,” Trendafilova’s Office told the news website on Wednesday.

Bus with Kosovo tourists pelted with stones in Montenegro (media)

Several news websites report that a bus with tourists from Kosovo was pelted with stones in the town of Berane in Montenegro on Wednesday. Media quote the head of a tour operator in Montenegro as saying that the incident reminds him of events in the 1990s and that he was disappointed to learn that a police patrol which was very near to the incident failed to react.